Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like

ABSTRACT

Mounting arrangement for sidewalk or road building equipment, such as graders, spreaders and pavers, which provides replaceable mounting of a selected unit from a mobile frame for height, cross slope and lateral adjustment automatically in response to a sensed reference so that the building operation will follow a predetermined path.

United States Patent [721 Inventor Raymond A. Curries 2,510,817 6/1950 Greiner 94/50 San Jose, Calif. 2,830,51 l 4/1958 Wills .4 94/50 [21 1 Appl. No 784,402 2,864,452 12/1958 Guntert 94/46X [22 Filed Dec. 17, 1968 2,916,836 12/1959 Stewart A 94/46UX [45] Patented Mar. 2, I971 3,069,983 12/ 1962 Pizzarotti 94/46 [73] Assignee Curries Manulacturing Co. 3,142,915 8/1964 Curlett l72/4.5 San Jose, Calif. 3,285,148 1 1/1966 Munyon 94/46 3,321,248 5/1967 Williamson..... 299/1 MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR SIDEWALK 3,386,303 6/1968 Curlett 74/388 BUILDING EQUIPMENT OR THE LIKE Primary Examiner-Jacob L. Nackenoff 10 Claims, 6 Drawing pigs Attorney-Paul B. Fihe [52] U.S.Cl...,. 94/46, 172/45 [51] Int. Cl E0l 19/48 I of Search. r r r t r r .1 Mounting arrangement for idewalk or road 94/46-45 building equipment, such as graders, spreaders and pavers, References cited which provides replaceable mounting of a selected unit from a mobile frame for height, cross slope and lateral adjustment au- UNITED STATES PATENTS tomatically in response to a sensed reference so that the build- 2,386,025 10/ 1 945 Wills 94/50 ing operation will follow a predetermined path.

v Patented March 2, 1971 3 ShQetS -Sheet 1 INVENTOR. RAYMOND A. GURR/ES PATENT AGENT Patented March 2, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RAYMOND A. GURR/ES A \E Q PATENT AGENT Patented March 2, 1971 3,566,759

S Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. RAYMOND A. GURR/E'S PATENT AGENT MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR SIDEWALK BUILDING EQUIPMENT OR THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION While, it is, of course, obvious that certain general similarities exist in the construction of highways, roads and sidewalks, the different size of the operations has resulted in considerably different detailed techniques.

In the construction of highways, large-scale earth-moving equipment is initially utilized to create the general path of the highway over an extended distance usually measured in miles. Thereafter base material, in the form of crushed rock or its equivalent, is spread over the area by a spreader or other piece of equipment, again of large capacity. In turn, separate units in the form of heavy rollers are arranged to compress the base material, and graders are utilized to establish the required finished grade and cross slope thereof. Finally, a paving unit is employed, normally in accordance with current practice, in the form of a slip-form paver which eliminates the need for construction of separate fixed forms for the paving operation. Recently, the spreading, grading, and paving equipment has been automatically controlled from an external reference, such as a grade wire extending along the generalpath of the highway at one side thereof or, in some cases, on each side, to assure accuracy of the completed highway.

On the other hand, since sidewalks, city streets, and certain other roads are constructed over very limited distances measured in city blocks, it is not economically feasible to utilize the same multiple number of units for the various operations. More particularly, it will be immediately obvious that the capital investment requisite to provide such a multiplicity of individual machines would be prohibitive for the paving of a sidewalk extending one or two blocks in length and having a width of no more than three or four feet. Furthermore, because of the relatively short distances involved, the individual construction units could be employed at widelyspaced intervals of time. Whereas in the construction of a highway, earth-moving equipment may be operating at one section, while at another section of highway construction, spreaders and graders can be simultaneously utilized, and at yet a third section, spaced one or more miles distant, the paving operation can simultaneously proceed. Since such relatively great distances are not encountered in the paving of sidewalks, the effective simultaneous use of various construction machines cannot be achieved. Finally, even though the machines for sidewalk paving would be scaled down in size from that used on freeways or other highways, the use of automatic controls on each and every machine to which such controls are applicable would also be prohibitive in cost since, even though the machine may be of lesser size, the same basic control elements are requisite regardless of machine size and and the total overall cost again becomes excessive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a general objective of the present invention to provide a universal mounting arrangement for a variety of building equipment units for sidewalks, city streets, curbs and gutters or the like including a single mobile carrier provided with means for alternative attachment thereto of various units required for such construction, such as an earth-moving unit, a spreader unit, a grading unit, a paving unit or, for that matter, any other piece of equipment requisite for a particular trenching, excavating, conveying, spreading, grading, mixing or paving operation. The mounting arrangement supports the chosen operational unit for adjustment in height, cross slope, and lateral disposition, and preferably, preferably, incorporates automatic control means for actuating the adjustment mechanism so that the particular operational unit mounted thereon follows the required predetermined path.

To best achieve this objective, the mobile carrier preferably takes the form of rather small jeeplike vehicle having its own source of power in the form of an internal combustion engine and which, preferably, is provided with the so-called centerpivot steering wherein both the front and rear sections articulate in response to appropriate steering actuation. The mounting means for an individual unit of construction equipment is preferably mounted at one end of the mobile frame for adjustment in the desired directions and preferably includes a first member which is mounted from one end of the frame for vertical motion, thus to provide height adjustment, a second member which is mounted from the first member for lateral pivotal motion enabling a cross slope adjustment and this second member can be provided, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, with means for mounting the particular operational unit, such as a grader, paver, or the like.

While a conventional manually-actuated steering wheel can be utilized to control the motion of the mobile carrier in one direction during, for example, a grading operation wherein the grader is positioned in advance of the carrier, it can also be operated in the reverse direction when a paving operation is being undertaken so that the paving unit, itself, follows, rather than leads, the mobile carrier.

Automatic control means can be incorporated on the mounting arrangement to control the positioning of the adjustable members. For example, cross slope can be controlled by a reference in the form of a pendulum control means which automatically adjusts the pivoted cross slope member in response to any deviations from a desired transverse disposition, and an external wire can be used as a reference for controlling the height of the mounting arrangement and, as a consequence, the operational unit mounted thereby. This same external reference wire can also be utilized as a lateral posi-. tional reference for controlling for steering of the mobile carrier so that it will automatically follow the desired path regardless of the particular operation being undertaken.

In accordance with an alternative aspect of the invention, a third adjustable member can be mounted from the second pivoted member for lateral translational motion which can, in turn, be controlled by engagement of an appropriate sensor with the external wire or other reference substantially eliminating any need for automatic steering since this automatic control of the lateral translational position of the third member and an operational unit mounted therefrom will eliminate the need of the driver to follow a precise path.

In some cases, an alternative reference in the form of a laser beam can be utilized, and a light-sensitive sensor can be mounted on the unit, ultimately to control both height and lateral adjustments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The general objectives of the invention and the manner in which they are achieved, as summarized above, will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of the exemplary structures shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a mounting arrangement for a sidewalk building equipment of the like constituting one embodiment of the present invention, portions of the structure being broken away to illustrate details thereof;

FIG. 2 is a front elevationalview of FIG. 1 structure diagrammatically indicating the cross slope adjustment of the mounting arrangement;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the FIG. 1 structure diagrammatically indicating height adjustment of the mounting arrangement;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a modified mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like and diagrammatically indicating lateral translation operations thereof;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view in vertical elevation indicating the modified sensing arrangement for lateral positional control of the mounting arrangement of FIG. 4, substantially as viewed along lines 5-5 thereof; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view, generally similar to FIG. showing a modified laser sensing means, with the associated control circuitry shown in block diagram form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION With initial reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the first embodiment of the invention includes a mobile carrier arranged to alternatively mount various units of sidewalk building equipment at one end thereof. More particularly, such mobile carrier for the sidewalk building units includes a mobile frame 10 supported on four wheels 12, two or more of which can be driven by a suitable internal combustion engine (not shown) and can be steered through conventional actuation from a steering wheel 14 mounted forwardly of a drivers seat 16. The described structure can take the form of a jeeplike vehicle of relatively small dimensions and having two wheels which can be turned to steer the vehicle or preferably is provided with so-called center pivot steering wherein the frame is centrally articulated to steer the vehicle. Although such center pivot steering is well-known and thus will not be described in great detail, a diagrammatic visualization thereof will be presented by reference to FIG. 4 and will be briefly described hereinafter.

At the forward end of the mobile frame 10, appearing at the left in FIGS. 1 and 3, adjustable equipment mounting means, generally indicated at 18, are supported and are, in turn, arranged to carry the particular unit of sidewalk building equipment for adjustment both in height and in cross slop relative to the direction of vehicle travel. Such equipment mounting means 18 includes a generally open rectangular frame member 20 which extends generally transversely of the mobile frame 10 and mounts at each of its ends outwardly projecting pivot pins 22, which are pivotally joined to a parallel forwardly-projecting pair of links 24, 26 at their forward extremities, the inner ends of the links 24, 26 being, in turn, pivotally secured to the forward side portions of the mobile frame 10 on similar pivot pins 28. At each side of the rectangular frame member 20, a double-acting hydraulic ram 32 is secured between the mobile frame 10 and the upper link by pivotal connections so that extension of the ram under suitable hydraulic actuation from a hydraulic pump (not shown) driven by the engine under control of the vehicle operator will effect an upward swinging of the links 24, 26 from the full line disposition shown in FIG. 3 to the dotted line disposition, thus effecting a height adjustment of the rectangular frame member 20. Although the rectangular frame member 20 also moves rearwardly, the parallel links 24, 26 maintain the frame member at all times during adjustment in the same upright disposition.

To provide cross slope adjustment for the mounted sidewalk building unit, a second open rectangular frame member 34 in mounted forwardly of the described first frame member 20 in the same general transverse disposition. At the top central portion thereof, the second frame member 34 is secured to the forwardly projecting end of a shaft 36 supported for rotation in the first member 20, thus to provide for pivotal motion of the second frame member 34 relative to the first frame member 20 and about an axis extending generally longitudinally of path of vehicle travel.

In order to effect pivotal adjustment of this second frame member 34, a double-acting hydraulic arm 38 is positioned in general transverse relationship across the central opening of the two rectangular frame members, as best shown in FIG. 2, one end of the hydraulic ram being pivotally secured to the inner end of the first frame member 20 and the opposite end of the ram being secured pivotally to the opposite end of the second pivoted frame member 34, wherefore extension or retraction of the ram 38 will cause lateral angular or pivotal adjustment of the second frame member about its mounting shaft 36, for example, from the full line disposition shown in FIG. 2 to the dotted line disposition there illustrated. This hydraulic ram 38 is also connected to the aforementioned hydraulic pump through suitable control valves which are preferably automatically actuated in the manner to be described hereinafter.

At the forward side of the pivoted second frame member 34, means 40 are provided for releasably mounting the particular unit of sidewalk building equipment and, to facilitate the mounting of various units, preferably takes the form of a universal mount including four dowel pins projecting forwardly from the four corners of the pivoted frame member 34 for reception in mating openings in the particular construction unit, thus to assure its desired mounted disposition.

In order to control the height of the mounting arrangement and the particular unit of sidewalk building equipment carried thereby, an external reference is utilized in conjunction with sensing means, generally indicated at 41, mounted at one side of the described pivoted cross slope adjustment member 34. More particularly, the external reference, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, takes the form of a grade wire 42 supported in a predetermined disposition parallel to the desired path of vehicle travel on suitably spaced wire hangers 44, preferably of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,446. Cooperating with such external grade wire 42 is a. pivoted sensing fork 46 adapted to straddle the grade wire 42 and control a hydraulic valve 48 which is connected between the mentioned hydraulic pump and the described rams 32 connected to the pivoted links 24, 26 that support the height-adjustment member 20. The described sensing fork 46 is arranged for manual vertical adjustment by turning of a hand crank 50 and the details of this entire sensing means 41 are preferably constructed in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,915.

Functionally, if the mobile frame 10 encounters a depression in its path of travel, the entire structure supported therefrom will also drop relative to the external grade wire 42 which will through the intermediary of the pivoted sensing fork 46 effect actuation of the vale 48 in a manner to produce extension of the hydraulic rams 32 connected to the pivoted links 24, 26 and thus raise the first height adjustment member 20, the cross slope adjustment members 34, and ultimately the sidewalk building unit mounted therefrom, thus to quickly bring the sidewalk building unit once again to the same height as determined by the disposition of the reference grade wire 42.

To control the cross slope disposition of the sidewalk building unit, a pendulum-controlled, value-actuating mechanism 52 preferably of the type shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,303 is employed, reference being made to such patent application for details of its construction and operation. As illustrated, the pendulum-controlled, valve-actuating mechanism 52 constitutes a unit that is secured rigidly to the mobile frame 10 substantially centrally of its forward end and can be preset to a deenergized position corresponding to a predetermined cross slope of the second pivoted adjustment member 34. In accordance with the structural and operational details in the referred-to patent application, if the mobile frame 10 encounters a depression at one side so as to laterally tilt, the pendulum, which obviously attempts to maintain a vertical disposition within the unit, will swing so as to open the valve in a fashion to supply hydraulic fluid to one end or another of the hydraulic ram 38 connected to the pivoted adjustment member 34 to effect a pivotal motion thereof with the described pivot shaft 36. From such shaft 36 to the pendulumcontrolled, valve-actuating mechanism 52, a rotary feedback connection 54 is made to deenergize the latter when the desired cross slope of the pivoted frame and the sidewalk paving unit mounted therefrom has been attained. More particularly, as best shown in FIG. 1, the feedback connection 54 includes several rod sections 56, 58 which are splined for connection by a connecting sleeve 60 to allow extension and retraction of the rod sections in response to the previously described height adjustment and these rod sections are, in turn, connected to the shaft 36 and to the input shaft of the pendulum-controlled unit 52 by universal joints 62, 64 also to accommodate changes in height disposition of the first mounting member 20.

It will thus be seen that regardless of any variation in the disposition of the mobile frame 10, either in height or in lateral tilt, the described grade wire sensing means 41 and the pendulum-controlled, slope-sensing mechanism 52 will automatically instigate corrections to reestablish the sidewalk building unit at the original desired height and cross slope. Preferably, the grade wire 42 is also mounted at a lateral position which follows precisely in parallel relation the path of the sidewalk to be constructed and the operator can, by careful observation of'the position of the sensing fork 46 on the grade wire 42, steer the mobile frame quite accurately to perform the particular digging, grading or paving operation.

However, whereas slight lateral deviations of the sidewalk building equipment unit utilized for digging or grading operations does not require extremely precise lateral positioning of the unit, it will be apparent that the final paving operation, for example, with'a small scale slip-form paver unit;does require maximum lateral position accuracy as well as the aforementioned height and cross slope adjustments and for this purpose, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, an automatic steering control mechanism, generally indicated at 66, can be mounted on the mobile frame 10 in cooperative relationship to the described external grade wire 42 so that the entire mobile frame will be automatically steered to follow a path in substantial parallelism with such grade wire.

Initially, it will be obvious that the grade wire 42, itself, will be mounted at the required lateral position and when comers or other curves are encountered, the grade wire can be replaced by a rigid curved reference rod 68, as shown in FIG. 1, which the steering control mechanism 66, to be hereinafter described, will follow to assure appropriate movement of the sidewalk building unit around the curve or corner.

Such steering control mechanism 66 can take the form of a substantially vertically-disposed sensing rod 68 pivoted at its upper end for opening or closing'of a hydraulic valve 70 of the same general type discussed hereinabove relative to the height sensing means 41 associated with that same grade wire. More particularly, as shown in FIG. 1, the vertical rod 68 is normally urged outwardly by a suitable counterweight 69 into contact with the adjacent grade wire 42 or rigid rod 68 and is arranged to control the delivery of hydraulic fluid to a hydraulic steering ram 72, as diagrammatically indicated in FIG. 4 and as will be described hereinafter. In its operating details, this automatic steering control mechanism 66 is similar to that described with respect to the height sensing means.41 and reference is therefore made to the aforementioned US. Pat. No. 3,142,915 for details of its construction and operation.

Preferably, as best shown in FIGS. l and 2, the entire steering control mechanism 66 is mounted alternatively on brackets 74 or 75 located respectively in lateral alignment with the forward or rearward wheels 12 of the vehicle. If the vehicle is to be moved forwardly or to the left, as viewed in FIG. 3, the steering control mechanism 66 will be mounted on the bracket 74 opposite the forward wheels whereas, to the contrary, if the vehicle is to be moved to the right during the particular sidewalk building operation, the steering control mechanism 66 will be mounted on the second bracket 75 opposite what would normally be the rear wheels but in this operation constitute the forward wheels of the vehicle, thus enabling the vehicle to be steered accurately in parallelism to the external grade wire 42 or rod 68.

The controlled steering arrangement 76, itself, as previously mentioned, preferably takes the form of center-pivot steering as found, for example, on mobile carriers of the type previously mentioned. Diagrammatically, such steering arrangement 76 involves a center pivot post 78 connected to articulated forward and rearward frame sections 80, 82 to which the respective forward and rearward wheels of the mobile frame are mounted so that as the hydraulic steering ram 72 is extended, as viewed in FIG. 4, the vehicle will be turned to the left whereas if the hydraulic ram is retracted, it will, in turn, be

turned to the right. Such extension or retraction of the hydraulic ram 72 in this first embodiment of the invention will be obviously controlled by the hydraulic valve 70 associated with the steering control mechanism 66 described hereinabove.

In the operation of the first embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, it is, of course, first necessary that the grade wire 42 or rigid rod 68 be appropriately positioned along the path of travel of the sidewalk building equipment at the desired height and lateral position. Thereafter a suitable scraping or digging structure can be mounted at the forward end of the mobile carrier for subsequent transverse of the desired path. As the operation continues, the height and cross slope of the digging or scraping unit is automatically controlled by the external grade reference sensing means 41 and the pendulum-actuated, cross slope control mechanism 52,

and, in turn, the entire vehicle follows the required path in.

parallelism to the grade wire through appropriate actuation of the steering control mechanism 66. Subsequent spreading or grading operations will thereafter be performed in substantially the same manner after the replacement of the initial digger or scraper unit with the appropriate spreader or grader mechanism. It will be observed that in all these operations, the supporting wheels of the carrier will ride on a surface which has already been worked and, as a consequence, relatively little height or cross slope deviation is encountered during the operation and the requisite automatic adjustments are accordingly minimized.

For purposes of the final paving operation, which, as previously mentioned, preferably would constitute a slip-form paving operation requiring no construction of temporary forms, the direction of machine operation is reversed. For this purpose, as previously mentioned, the steering control mechanism 66 is moved to a position opposite the wheels 12 of the mobile carrier at the right in FIG. 3 and the paving unit, itself, is now mounted at the rearmost end of the vehicle relative to its new direction of travel. In turn, the wheels 12 move over a previously graded surface so that but little grade or cross slope deviations are encountered and, in turn, but small adjustments in the automatically-controlled mounting members are requisite.

It will be apparent that various modifications in the details of the mobile frame 10, its steering arrangement 76 and the mounting of the adjustment members 20, 34 can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and one example of a significant variation is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 wherein an additional or third laterally-adjustable member 84 is mounted at the forward end of the unit and the lateral disposition of this member is automatically controlled by reference to external grade wire of the type previously described or alternatively by reference to the vertical surface of an already existent curb 86 which in many instances is installed as part of a curb 86 and gutter 87 unit immediately prior to the construction of the sidewalk in spaced relationship thereto.

The main structure of the mobile frame 10, the first heightadjustment member 20 and the second cross slope adjustment member 34 can be substantially identical with the structure previously shown and described in connection with the first embodiment of the invention wherefore like reference numerals are applied thereto in FIG. 4 with but an added prime notation and the general operation of such mobile frame and the first two adjustment members is substantially.

the same. However, at the forward end of the cross slope adjustment member 34', a pair of parallel links 88, 90 are pivotally mounted on upright pins 92 to project forwardly from each side of the second pivoted member and are joined at their forward extremities by similar pivot pins 94 to the mentioned third frame member 84 which thus is capable of essentially lateral or horizontal pivotal motion between the full line disposition shown in FIG. 4 and the dotted line dispositions.

The laterally-adjustable third member 84 includes a mount for attachment of a particular sidewalk building unit which assures its desired positional support but, at the same time, enables quick attachment or detachment thereof by use of a single hydraulic clamp. More particularly, the universal mount includes four dowel pins 40' which project from the four comers of the rectangular third member 84, much in the fashion of those shown in the first embodiment of the invention, and in addition includes an opening 110 through the central upper portion of such third adjustment member 84 that is arranged to receive a mounting pin 112 which can be incorporated in each sidewalk building unit. This pin 112 has opposed flat spaced from its projecting end which extends beyond the opening 110 in the lateral adjustment member 84 which flats are arranged for cooperative wedgelike engagement by a fork I14 mounted at the end of a hydraulic ram 116 whose other extremity is secured to the adjustment member 84. When the ram 116 is withdrawn, the pin 112 on the sidewalk building unit can be freely removed from the opening 110 in the adjustment member 84 but when extended, the two tines of the fork 114 engage the opposite flats on the pin 112 to clamp the sidewalk building unit in its precisely mounted but detachable position on the lateral adjustment member 84.

Adjacent one side of this third adjustment member 84, a hydraulic ram 96 is pivotally secured and extends angularly rearwardly for pivotal connection at its opposite end to the second pivoted frame member 34 wherefore extension or retraction of such hydraulic ram will effect the desired lateral swinging motion of the foremost frame member.

The described hydraulic ram 96 is under control of a position sensing mechanism 98 which is mounted at one side of the third frame member 84 and if an external grade wire or rod is used, as shown in the first embodiment of the invention, such position sensing mechanism 98 can be substantially equivalent to the steering control mechanism 66 including a substantially vertically disposed rod 100 arranged to be urged against the grade wire, as best illustrated in FIG. 1. Any lateral deviation of the third adjustment member 84 and the operating unit carried thereby will cause a pivotal motion of the dependent rod 100 which, in turn, will control the opening or closing of a valve 102 to effect appropriate extension or retraction of the hydraulic ram 96 so that the third mounting member will immediately regain its parallel spaced disposition relative to the grade wire, It will be obvious that if this modified embodiment of the invention is employed, no automatic steering of the unit is required so long as the operator generally steers the vehicle along the general path of travel and, in fact, because of the precise sensing of the lateral disposition of the grade wire at the mounting member itself, a very precise path of travel of the operating unit is achieved.

If the previously mentioned curb 86 and gutter 87 construction has been previously installed and it is desired to use this structure as the external reference rather than the grade wire, but slight modification of the lateral position and height sensing mechanisms are required. The lateral position sensing mechanism 98 need only be modified to mount a wheel 104 at the lower end of the rod 100, as clearly shown in FIG. 5, for appropriate lateral engagement with the vertical surface of the installed curb 86 and the sidewalk paving operation will follow this surface in precise parallelism thereto.

In turn, the height sensing means 41' mounted from the second pivoted adjustment member 34 includes rather than the sensing fork 46, described in the first embodiment of the invention, a wheel 106 mounted at the lower end of a pivoted rod 108 for engagement with the horizontal surface of the gutter 87. Except for the slight modifications in the sensing structures, the construction and operation will be precisely the same as discussed in connection with the previous embodiment of the invention and thus no further details thereof will be recited.

In view of the fact that it is now well-known that a laser beam can be generated to project for considerable distance (measured in miles) in the form of a pencil-like beam having a transverse dimension of one-fourth inch or less, such a beam can be utilized in accordance with another aspect of the present invention as an external reference for controlling both height and lateral adjustments of the mechanical mounting arrangement as described in either of the previous embodiments of the invention. By way of example and with particular reference to FIG. 6, a combined vertical and lateral light-sensitive sensor means, generally indicated at 120, can be mounted at the top of a rod 122 rigidly secured at its lower end to a lateral adjustment 84" which corresponds quite precisely with the lateral adjustment member 84', described in detail in connection with the second embodiment of the invention.

The sensor means can, more particularly, take the form of a square panel I24 approximately one foot on each side which, in turn, carries a plurality of light-intercepting photocells, photodiodes or other lighvsensitive elements 126 of a known commercial type. Preferably, the panel 124 is mounted at an elevation of approximately l0 feet and is arranged to intercept a laser beam B which is projected along the side of the desired sidewalk or roadway at this elevation and at a predetermined lateral disposition relative to the roadway. The projection of the beam B at this height precludes accidental interception of the beam by personnel working in the area.

The photocells or photodiodes 126 are arranged on the panel in four quadrants 128, 130, 132, 134, the quadrants 128, 130 on the left and right representing the sensing area of any lateral deviation of the sensor from its desired path, and the top and bottom quadrants I32, 134, in turn, representing the areas for sensing any height deviations. When the beam B is at the center of the panel 124, the sidewalk building equipment is properly disposed both laterally and horizontally and no error signal will be produced. On the other hand, if the equipment drops, the panel 124 is therefore lowered and the light beam B is then intercepted by one or another photocell 126 above the central position and a vertical error signal will be produced. This vertical error signal is delivered to an amplifier 136, and the amplified signal, in turn, is delivered to an amplidyne generator 138 whose output controls a servomotor 140 that, in turn, physically moves a valve 48 in a fashion to raise the level of the mounting arrangement until the laser beam B, once again, is intercepted at the center of the sensor panel 124 and further vertical adjustment ceases.

If a lateral deviation of the equipment is experienced, the sensor means 120 will be displaced laterally relative to the laser beam B and the resultant lateral error 'signal is, in turn, fed through another amplifier 142 and amplidyne generator 144 to a lateral servomotor 146 which adjusts a valve 102' to effect lateral motion of the arrangement and, more particularly, the lateral adjustment member 84" until, again, the beam B is recentered on the sensor 120.

If both lateral and vertical deviations are encountered simultaneously, alternate vertical and lateral adjustments will be made as the laser beam B is intercepted by, for example, first a photocell 126 in a vertical quadrant and, then a photocell in a lateral sensing quadrant until in a step by step fashion the position of the beam is, once again, recentered on the sensor means 120.

Preferably, the sensor means 120 is arranged to provide for a proportional adjustment and this can be achieved simply by providing a low output from the photocells 126 closest to the center and a successively higher voltage output from those more remote from the center of the panel 124.

While many modifications in the details of the light sensitive sensor means can be envisioned, it is to be noted that this single sensor means 120, whatever precise form it may take, provides for both vertical and lateral control of the disposition of the sidewalk building unit. Furthermore, because of the permitted disposition of the beam B and the elimination of any external references of a physical nature, accidental displace ment of an external wire or other physical reference is avoided.

In all embodiments, the hydraulic conduits are not illustrated since they are conventional, but the open rectangular 9 configuration of each adjustment member readily facilitates appropriate connection to the hydraulic rams, valves, and pumps as described.

While relatively small units have been specifically described for the construction of sidewalks, it will be apparent that equally small units can be utilized to mount appropriate curb and/or gutter building equipment, and larger units can be employed in street construction.

it will also be apparent that. many other modifications and/or alterations can be made to meet particular conditions without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and, accordingly, the foregoing description of but three embodiments is to be considered as purely exemplary and not in a limiting sense and the actual scope of the invention is to be indicated only by reference to the appended claims.

I claim: 1. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises: amobile frame; g equipment mounting means supported at one end of said mobile frame for height and cross slope adjustment;

means including a sensing member adapted for operative association with an external grade reference for controlling the height adjustment of said mounting means;.and means responsive to lateral angular deviation of said mounting means from a predetermined cross slope for controlling the cross slope adjustment of said mounting means; I 7

said equipment mounting means including a first member mounted from said mobile frame for height adjustment; and

a second member mounted from said first member for lateral pivotal adjustment. 7

2. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 1 wherein said second member carries said grade-reference sensing member.

3. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 1 which comprises universal means on said second pivoted member adapted to mount releasably a selected unit of sidewalk building equipment.

4. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 3 wherein said universal means includes a hydraulically-actuated clamp.-

5. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 1 wherein:

said cross slope control means includes a pendulum-actuated control means on said mobile frame; and

feedback means connected between said second pivoted member and said pendulum-actuated control means.

6. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises: i

a mobile frame;

equipment mounting means supported at one end of said mobile frame for height and cross slope adjustment;

means including a sensing member adapted for operative association with an external grade reference for controlling the height adjustment of said mounting means;

means responsive to lateral angular deviation of said mounting means from a predetermined cross slope for controlling the cross slope adjustment of said mounting means;

said equipment mounting means being also arranged for lateral translational adjustment; and

means including a sensing member adapted for operative association with an external lateral position reference for controlling the lateral translational adjustment of said equipment mounting means.

7. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 6 wherein:

said equipment mounting means includes a first member mounted from said mobile frame for height adjustment;

a second member mounted from said first member for lateral pivotal adjustment; and a third member mounted from said second member for lateral translational adjustment.

8. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 7 wherein said lateral reference sensing member is carried by said third member.

9. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises:

a mobile frame;

a first member mounted from one end of said frame for height adjustment;

a second member mounted from said first member for lateral pivotal adjustment;

a third member mounted from said second member for lateral translational adjustment; and

means operable to separately adjust the positions of each of said three members.

10. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises:

a mobile frame;

equipment mounting means supported on said frame for height and lateral adjustment;

a light-sensitive sensor means carried by said mounting means and adapted to sense lateral or height deviation of said means relative to a laser beam;

means for adjusting the height and/or lateral position of said equipment mounting means responsive to the sensed information received from said sensor means; and

said sensor means including a plurality of light-sensitive elements arranged in four quadrants, two of which lie above and below the quadrant center to sense vertical deviations, and the other two of which lie on opposite sides of the center to sense lateral deviations. 

1. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises: a mobile frame; equipment mounting means supported at one end of said mobile frame for height and cross slope adjustment; means including a sensing member adapted for operative association with an external grade reference for controlling the height adjustment of said mounting means; and means responsive to lateral angular deviation of said mounting means from a predetermined cross slope for controlling the cross slope adjustment of said mounting means; said equiPment mounting means including a first member mounted from said mobile frame for height adjustment; and a second member mounted from said first member for lateral pivotal adjustment.
 2. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 1 wherein said second member carries said grade-reference sensing member.
 3. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 1 which comprises universal means on said second pivoted member adapted to mount releasably a selected unit of sidewalk building equipment.
 4. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 3 wherein said universal means includes a hydraulically-actuated clamp.
 5. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 1 wherein: said cross slope control means includes a pendulum-actuated control means on said mobile frame; and feedback means connected between said second pivoted member and said pendulum-actuated control means.
 6. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises: a mobile frame; equipment mounting means supported at one end of said mobile frame for height and cross slope adjustment; means including a sensing member adapted for operative association with an external grade reference for controlling the height adjustment of said mounting means; means responsive to lateral angular deviation of said mounting means from a predetermined cross slope for controlling the cross slope adjustment of said mounting means; said equipment mounting means being also arranged for lateral translational adjustment; and means including a sensing member adapted for operative association with an external lateral position reference for controlling the lateral translational adjustment of said equipment mounting means.
 7. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 6 wherein: said equipment mounting means includes a first member mounted from said mobile frame for height adjustment; a second member mounted from said first member for lateral pivotal adjustment; and a third member mounted from said second member for lateral translational adjustment.
 8. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like according to claim 7 wherein said lateral reference sensing member is carried by said third member.
 9. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises: a mobile frame; a first member mounted from one end of said frame for height adjustment; a second member mounted from said first member for lateral pivotal adjustment; a third member mounted from said second member for lateral translational adjustment; and means operable to separately adjust the positions of each of said three members.
 10. Mounting arrangement for sidewalk building equipment or the like which comprises: a mobile frame; equipment mounting means supported on said frame for height and lateral adjustment; a light-sensitive sensor means carried by said mounting means and adapted to sense lateral or height deviation of said means relative to a laser beam; means for adjusting the height and/or lateral position of said equipment mounting means responsive to the sensed information received from said sensor means; and said sensor means including a plurality of light-sensitive elements arranged in four quadrants, two of which lie above and below the quadrant center to sense vertical deviations, and the other two of which lie on opposite sides of the center to sense lateral deviations. 